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      12-17-2012, 03:09 PM   #21
F30SD
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Drives: Waiting on 335i MG Sportline
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: San Diego

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There is a big difference between reckless driving (weaving in and out of lanes, passing on the right, cutting people off) to maintain 95 mph on the freeway and driving with the speed of traffic which in CA happens to be 85, (limit is 65) Going 10 mph faster than the car next to you is not dangerous. Cutting off cars and weaving around other vehicles is.
I was driving on the autobahn in October and most vehicles drove about 75-80mph, Trucks drove slower around 65. But some cars did 120+ and they slowed down when there were cars in front of them, passed them and accelerated back up to 120. No accidents. Also I think driving 100 makes you pay more attention to the road.
There were no cops, eating up tax revenue, sitting on the side of the road preying on drivers going 100 mph or 80 or 70, no threat of arrest or fine, and everyone was safe, no one died, the world did not end. People passed on the left and if you were going slower than the car behind you, you moved over to the right. There was no bs, I am going the speed limit (65) so I can be in the fast lane and blocking all traffic behind me even though the normal speed on that road is 85.

All in all instead of a top down commandment mandating everyone drive exactly the same, there was a bottom up approach where each driver made a decision to drive safely for the road in question. That means performance cars like my 335 drove faster than a beat up truck.

Not to mention the fact the speed limits are set deliberately below the safe "natural flow" rate to generate income for the state.

I think we would be much better of without speed limits in the US, but strong enforcement of reckless driving. So you can't do 100+ if everyone else is doing 40, and you have to weave through traffic.
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